A Democratic congressman is abandoning his political opposition to abortion, saying that his position on the issue has evolved after hearing personal stories from women struggling with difficult pregnancy decisions. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) announced his change of heart on Tuesday in an op-ed published in the Akron Beacon Journal.
Ryan identifies as Catholic and previously described himself as pro-life. He has supported several pieces of anti-abortion legislation during his time in Congress — including restrictions on minors seeking abortions, a ban on embryonic stem cell research, and a ban on so-called “partial birth” abortions.
But, according to his new op-ed, Ryan has since “come to believe that we must trust women and families — not politicians — to make the best decision for their lives.”
The congressman says he has listened to women across the country talk about their personal experiences with abortion. Some told him they became pregnant from abusive relationships or from sexual assaults. Others said they couldn’t afford to have another child. Ryan heard from women who developed serious health issues during their pregnancies, and from underage girls are were afraid their parents would kick them out for getting pregnant.
“These women gave me a better understanding of how complex and difficult certain situations can become. And while there are people of good conscience on both sides of this argument, one thing has become abundantly clear to me: the heavy hand of government must not make this decision for women and families,” Ryan writes. “No federal or state law banning abortion can honestly and fairly take into account the various circumstances that make each decision unique.”
Over the past several years, there have been some signs of Ryan’s gradual shift on the issue. He has a mixed voting record on abortion that caused him to fall out of favor with hard line groups like the National Right to Life. In 2009, after supporting a compromise regarding abortion coverage in Obamacare’s new state-level insurance marketplaces, Ryan was branded a “pro-lie Democrat” and booted from the advisory board of Democrats For Life.
Now, he’s claiming it. “I am not afraid to say that my position has evolved as my experiences have broadened, deepened and become more personal,” the congressman writes.
And Ryan’s change of heart may signal a potential path forward for reproductive rights supporters eager to shift the political landscape around abortion, which has remained largely unchanged for the past several decades.
Abortion rights stands in sharp contrast to another major social issue of the Religious Right, gay marriage, that’s been rapidly progressing. An increasing number of Democrats and Republicans — including President Barack Obama — have spoken openly about their “evolution” on the issue of LGBT rights to explain why they decided to switch their position on marriage equality. It’s much less common, however, for pro-life politicians to describe having this type of change of heart about abortion.
Obviously, abortion rights and LGBT rights aren’t a perfect comparison. But some of the potential parallels can be instructive, particularly when it comes to efforts to shift public opinion in a progressive direction. A team of UCLA researchers, for instance, are currently working on replicating an experiment that successfully used gay people’s personal stories to nudge conservatives toward supporting LGBT rights; this time, they want to measure the potential impact of women talking about their personal abortion experiences. The preliminary results have been promising, suggesting that hearing about women’s own abortions can sway people’s views.
Those results are good news for the reproductive rights movement, which has increasingly placed an emphasis on challenging the societal stigma around abortion so more women may feel comfortable talking about it. Over the past several years, activists have created an increasing number of spaces that allow women to speak out about their abortions, ultimately illustrating the wide range of lived experiences related to the procedure.
The main goal of that advocacy push is to build connections between the one in three women who have had an abortion. But there’s a positive political side effect, too: It could help more people follow Ryan’s lead and shift their positions on the issue.
“The number of women sharing their own stories of abortion is increasing as access to our own media platforms is increasing — women now have a whole bunch of different mediums without needing permission from some kind of a gatekeeper,” Eric Ferrero, the vice president of communications for Planned Parenthood Action Fund, told ThinkProgress. “That’s changing both the ability of women to share their experiences and the ability of people like Congressman Ryan to really hear those experiences and learn from them.”
Ferrero’s organization has praised Rep. Ryan for approaching the issue in an honest and heartfelt way, releasing statements indicating they’re looking forward to working with him on policies related to women’s health. Planned Parenthood officials have also emphasized that his journey is not necessary a unique one.
“I think we are having a different conversation about abortion in this country than we were even a couple of years ago,” Ferrero said. “We’re getting outside of these boxes and labels, the polar opposites of ‘pro choice’ and ‘pro life’ and this sort of one-dimensional conversation that’s gone on for quite some time — and instead, giving people space to come to understand that these things are really not that simple.”